A married US congressman sent lewd photographs of himself to young female
admirers over Twitter and Facebook then lied about being the victim of
hackers when he was caught, he admitted last night.

Anthony Weiner, a Democrat from New York, broke down in tears as he confessed to "inappropriate conversations" with six women online and over the phone in the past three years.

"I have made terrible mistakes, I have hurt the people I love the most, and I am deeply sorry," he said, in a hastily-arranged press conference in a Manhattan hotel.

Mr Weiner, 46, repeatedly apologised to his 34-year-old wife Huma Abedin, a senior aide to Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, and to his constituents, but said he would not resign.

"I don't believe I did anything here that violates any law or violates my oath to my constituents," he said. Some of the conversations dated back to before his wedding last summer.

However Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, called for an inquiry “to determine whether any official resources were used or any other violation of House rules occurred.”

His admission came hours after new topless photographs that he emailed Meagan Broussard, a 26-year-old single mother from Texas, were published by Big Government, a conservative website.

They cast fatal doubt over Mr Weiner's unlikely claim that a picture of a man's crotch, which was sent to another young woman in Seattle from his Twitter account last week, was sent by hackers.

Mr Weiner's explanation raised eyebrows when he could not say "with certitude" that the crotch was not his, but continued to insist that he had not sent the picture.

He admitted last night that he meant to send it privately but inadvertently made it publicly viewable. "I panicked, I took it down and said that I had been hacked," he said.

He also confirmed a claim by the website that he had also sent an "X-rated" photo of his body to Miss Broussard. "This was me doing a dumb thing, doing it repeatedly and then lying about it," he said.

Earlier in the day, a third woman - who remains unnamed - gave radaronline, another website, a selection of sexually explicit Facebook messages she claimed were sent to her by Mr Weiner.

Andrew Breitbart, the founder of Big Government, said at the press conference: "It didn't have to be this way. He could have been truthful. I'm here to watch myself be vindicated".

Mr Weiner, a representative for parts of Queens and Brooklyn since 1999, had been likely to run for Mayor of New York in 2013. He said last night that he would continue to Tweet and use Facebook.

Asked about the future of his marriage, Mr Weiner said: “I love my wife very much, and we have no intention of splitting up over this ... she’s very disappointed. But she also told me that she loved me and that she wanted to get through this.”

Earlier this year Chris Lee, another married New York congressman, resigned hours after topless pictures he had sent a woman he met online were published by a gossip website.